Farm Bureau energy director: 'Shale development has taken over my life'

Addressing members of the Eastern Ohio Development Alliance at the organization's Jan. 20 board meeting at Salt Fork Resort & Conference Center, Dale Arnold, director of energy development at the Ohio Farm Bureau, said "shale development has taken over my life. There is a tremendous amount of activity in our area and I have been working with all county officials and state government leaders to ensure people are getting accurate information. We have established workshops to help landowners. I travel around the state talking to people to keep them informed about what is going on."

Arnold said it is important to diversify the use of energy resources: coal, wind, solar and oil and gas.

He also said there are many environmental concerns about oil and gas exploration.

"On a scale of one to 10, number one being a tree-hugger to number 10, a drill-baby-drill cowboy, I'm a number 5. We need to address all the issues.

"It is paramount for property owners to ask questions, especially about their water wells. They need to have their wells inspected to make sure they have good quality and a good quantity of water. Local rural residents may have a well that has served them well for many years, an inspection can determine if the well will remain a viable source or if it's ready to dry up. It is important to establish a baseline waterline before any drilling starts. Septic systems also need to be inspected.

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"People are constantly asking questions about injection wells. We have 180 injection wells in Ohio. They have worked well for years. The technology today is much different today ... and they are more efficient. Oil and gas companies are

trying to recycle the water from the hydraulic fracturing process at the drill site, and re-use the water. As far as sending it to sewer and waste water treatment plants, that is out of the question. No facility today is designed to separate the chemical elements in the water.

"Some issues we have had for years are surfacing now because of oil and gas exploration. Criteria on water testing is ongoing and improving. The energy companies are already doing just that. They let me know what they find and report ... They are working with us to establish a standardized test."

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Also on the agenda at the meeting was guest speaker State Rep. (97th Dist.) Dave Hall, who said this is his 118th meeting talking to groups about shale.

"It is a battle to keep up with what is going on in the oil and gas industry. There is a lot of misinformation about oil and gas exploration. The Marcellus and Utica [Shale Formations] are being attacked. Why put a moratorium on drilling? We have rules and regulations in place that govern this development," said Hall.

"We went to Youngstown to discuss the problem there ... If we put a moratorium on Class II injection wells, it will shut down every well in the state. All [injection wells] are doing is putting it [the water] back where it came from.

There is a lot of fear-mongering going on.

"The oil and gas industry will create jobs and give us the resources we need. Since Senate Bill 165 passed in 2010, we have the protection standards in place. Ohio has great quality plans. Protection of the water table is there."

When asked about why other states use Ohio's injection wells to dispose of their "fracking" waste water, Hall said Ohio is required by federal commerce law to allow the use of our injection wells to other states.

"We have been putting fracking fluids into the ground since 1984. There are probably more chemicals in your pool than in the hydraulic fracturing wells," he said. "And, as technology moves forward, there will be more "greening" of hydraulic fracturing.